Before getting to today’s slightly scarring experience, let’s back track to last night’s bed-time snack. I tried my pumpkin chips (that I bought a feww weeks ago along with mushroom chips). They were okay. They get points for being non-greasy, but didn’t they have much, if any pumpkin flavour and they were a but dry, like over baked squash. Not buying these again…but I must go back for the mushrooms, and to try the apple chips….

This morning I had my appetite slightly ruined by part one of the day’s failure, which I cover later, so I ended up being hungry, but with only 10 minutes before I had to be out the door. So I quickly grabbed whatever, and ended up with a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch (more hiding under the yogurt), yogurt, banana, and the last of my PB2 ;_;. At least this breakfast managed to take a bad taste out of my mouth, and by the end I was enjoying it (quickly!)

For lunch I continued with my veggie and fruit spree. There was a container of snow peas, carrots, cucumber, celery, and red pepper with left over pumpkin soup for dipping.

And a container with a mango and TWO apples, gala and golden delicious (in honour of Sharon 🙂)

For dinner I tossed romaine in my new favourite yogurt/whole grain dijon/chive dressing and topped it with a steaming pile of broccoli.

Now what was my scarring experience that started in the morning and ended with some kitchen experiments tonight?

Last weekend I bought a papaya. It was completely green, but so were the other ones in the pile at the (chinese) grocery store. I figured it would ripen on the counter. By this morning, the papaya was still green, but it was a bit softer than on Sunday, so I figured it must be ripe, but just be a different variety than usual, like how mangos come in different colours. So I sliced it open and found this.

I was suspicious. Mostly because I was at least expecting the seeds to look the same. So before cutting it up and adding it to my lunch, I licked it (what? I’m the only one who’s going to eat it anyway). It was HORRIFYING. It’s ridiculously astringent, like unripe persimmons (I’ve lost one or two to not being able to tell when those things are fully ripened). I was going to throw the whole thing out, but thought I would stick in the fridge at least for today to see if the internet offered any useful information about green papayas. I looked them up during a slow period at work and found suggestions to cook them.

I was skeptical, but I gave two methods a try tonight (I was NOT about to try it raw again, no matter how many recipes for thai green papaya salad I found). One chunk took a trip in the oven with cinnamon and honey, and another one was boiled by itself so I could try it and add things later if it tasted any better. Both methods worked to take away the astringency, but once that was gone, the papaya still had a weird taste to it that I was not enjoying. The baked version was slightly better simply because it was drowned in honey, but still not very good and I didn’t bother eating more than a bite of either dish.

At least the experience is over, and I know better for next time. And this counts as me trying a new food right? No matter how accidentally, and unsuccessfully? I must look for something (hopefully) better for Katie’s Challenge this weekend….

I did finish the night on a better note though with tasty, crunchy roasted chickpeas. I mixed one can of chickpeas with 2 T tahini and 1 T cinnamon and roasted them in the oven at 400 for about an hour. The first batched (pictured) was a bit over cooked because I stopped check them so often and waited too long, but the second batch was perfect, some crunchy, some slightly soft still on the inside, just the way I like them. And I hope the person I give them to tomorrow likes them too 🙂

About Me

I’ve been overweight/obese for most of my life and at the beginning of March 2008 finally decided to do something about it. I made the eat well/move more sort of lifestyle change that’s needed to get things done and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I've lost over 120lbs so far and still have further to go but I know I’ll get there soon enough. I quickly discovered the world of food/health blogs and fell in love with them and the new ideas they gave me. I love cooking and trying new healthy foods so I hope I can share with you some of the best bits of my life and of course, my good eats.
Feel free to email me at plentifulplants@gmail.com.